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Well, so far I have walked 454 kilometres across the province of Saskatchewan in order to raise awareness and funds for Huntington Disease and the Huntington Society of Canada.

Saturday night (July 22) I made it to the town of Wadena, Saskatchewan. It looks like I am going to turn south now at Wadena and pick up the trail on the Yellowhead Highway heading east towards Yorkton and then the Manitoba border. July 23 is a rest day at my mom’s place in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. I will go back and pick up my trail Monday, July 24th.

Seth and I were having lunch in Unity, when the waitress asked what I was up to. I told her that I was walking across Saskatchewan in order to raise awareness about Huntington Disease. As she went back into the kitchen we could hear her tell the cooking staff: “Hey that guy is running across Canada for Parkinson’s”

As I was about to cross the 25th street bridge in Saskatoon, I came across a young man who had just been arrested. The Saskatoon police were not messing around. The young man was handcuffed, with his hands behind his back and was told that he was off to jail. When he asked why he was being arrested, the police informed him simply and sternly that he had been “jaywalking.” I did not record the incident, nor did I jaywalk for the rest of the tour through Saskatoon.

About 1 kilometer west of Wadena, I met another walker headed west. He asked if he could use my cell phone to call his mom and let her know that he was fine. I dialed the number but did not get a dial tone, nor did the telephone ring on the other end. I then texted the number instead and typed: “This is Shaleco (the boy’s name). I am fine and am just west of Wadena, SK. I just met another traveller who has given me water and energy bars. All is well.” As we parted, ways, I asked where Shaleco was headed. He said “Alberta”. I said: “That’s interesting, I’m headed for Manitoba.” A few minutes later, I dialed the number again and actually spoke with Shaleco’s mom. I told her what happened and where I had last seen her son. She informed me that she had the RCMP looking for him. Then, as I was just about to finish the conversation, she said: “You spelled his name wrong.”

Many Thanks to:

1. The hundreds of people who have sponsored me so far. I am over my 10 and then 15000 dollar goal. Thank you so much!

2. My event sponsors: Knight Nissan, Bickner Trucking, Sterling Truck and Trailer, Hornoi Leasing, Full Line Ag, The Village of Vanguard, Steelview Oilfield Services, and Speedy Creek Signs. My plan was to backpack across this province on my own. It was not a good a good plan. Best case scenario is I would have failed, worst case is I would have died. These sponsors have ensured that I have a pace vehicle to keep me safe on the road, coaching to keep my body going, and rest at night and nutrition along the way. Thanks!

3. John Bickner at Bickner Trucking. He made the above sponsorship (and this campaign) possible.

4. My pace drivers Seth, Jessalyn and my wife Valerie. You can imagine that walking across the province at 5km per hour is boring. Driving a vehicle at that speed isn’t any better.

5. People that have walked with me; Dan, Jessalyn, Gordon, Amber, Brittney, Laurie, Janet and Lorne, Betty, Loyd, Brian, Carrie, Kassie, Wendy, and Alvina. It does pass the time having people to walk with.

I haven’t been able to listen to as much music on the road as I would have liked. There is just too much traffic. In addition, after we had the Facebook block on our live feed because Val was playing XM radio, I thought if my pace car driver can’t have music then I can’t either.

Here is one of my favourite songs from my absolute favourite band growing up.

Fight the Good Fight – Triumph

Hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, Triumph was a power rock trio in the mid 1970s and 1980s. They were my favourite band, and I must have listened to their records a million times. In fact, growing up, I wanted to be one of two guys, Rik Emmett of Triumph or Darryl Sittler of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This is Rik Emmett, one of my two boyhood heros. His skills on the guitar are like no other. Originally, I wanted to name my first son, “Rik Emmett Shwaga.” It was decided. There was no other option. That is until the time of birth when my wife informed me “His name will be Seth.”

My other boyhood hero was Darryl Sittler. He was the captain and best hockey player on my favourite team the Toronto Maple leafs. Sometimes when the game would end on Saturday night, I could hardly bear the thought that I would have to wait a whole week to see Darryl Sittler and the Leafs again. Even then, often you would wait an entire week only to find out CBC was airing the Montreal Canadiens or Vancouver Canucks game. That was unbearable!

Until this day, when I am at a teacher’s conference or convention or any place where people don’t know who I am and we are required to have name tags, I will put Rik Emmett or Darryl Sittler on my tag and just pretend to be them all day long. They are still my boyhood heroes.

Water, t-shirts, shorts, jogging shoes, sunscreen, bug spray and that is about it! That is my list for my 676-kilometre hike across the province of Saskatchewan in my attempt to raise awareness of and funding for Huntington Disease research. I have published my itinerary here and as expected it will already have to be adjusted. I have an interview scheduled with CTV on July 13, as well as a potential media opportunity in Moose Jaw later that morning.

The pace has definitely picked up here in the last couple of days. My best friend John Bickner at Bickner Trucking Ltd. in Vanguard, SK was concerned about my safety and well-being while on the road. He made more than a few calls and managed to secure a few sponsors so that I would be looked after in terms of accommodations and nutrition. So far, Bickner Trucking Ltd. in Vanguard, Sterling Truck and Trailer Sales Ltd. in Regina, The Village of Vanguard, and Full Line Ag Ltd. in Swift Current have come together in order to help me across the province (I have one more to come, but will release that information shortly). Level Coaching has put together a comprehensive nutrition plan for me to follow in order to minimize the chances of me basically self-destructing on the side of the highway in the middle of the province (let’s face it in my mind I still feel anywhere from 7-17 years old, but at 46 I’m a bit of a geezer).

I also have had some other help along the way. Sport Chek in Swift Current set me up with some jogging shoes and athletic socks, Swift Current Pharmasave and Walmart Swift Current provided me with bottled water for the trip and Et Cetera in the Swift Current Mall even gave me a microwave steamer so that I can raffle it off to all my Twitter and Facebook followers and retweeters.

Thanks everyone for helping me out!

In addition, thank you to everyone who has been donating to the Huntington Society of Canada online and through me. I set my goal of 10,000 dollars, and I am basically there already and still four days away from starting the walk. Thank you so much!

I also have some readers tuning in from places like India, Finland, The UK and the United States. Welcome! I should tell you about Saskatchewan:

My home province of Saskatchewan is a trapezoid in the middle of Canada. We are one of only two landlocked provinces in our country (though we have about 100,000 lakes most of which nobody ever sees). We are slightly larger than the country of France in area but with 65 times fewer people. Yes, that means we only have about 1 million people in our entire province. Our 1 million people though, produce a whole lot of food (if you have eaten bread, margarine, or lentils, you’ve likely had a taste of Saskatchewan), oil and gas (unless you are from the United States though, you likely haven’t had our oil. We only get to sell it to ourselves or the United States – long story.) and Uranium (if your electricity is generated by a nuclear reactor, the uranium used to power it came from us). Also, potash; if your farmers put fertilizer on their fields it probably came from about 3500 feet below the surface of my province. We are kind of the Saudi Arabi of potash.

What is Huntington Disease(7)?

One aspect of the disease that I haven’t touched on at all, is the Juvenile form of Huntington Disease or Juvenile HD. I was contacted today by someone that has been affected by this form of Huntington Disease and this manifestation of HD is very sad indeed.

About 10% percent of HD cases are of the juvenile form. Whereas most HD victims remain asymptomatic until around 30-50 years of age, the juvenile incarnation hits kids in their teens (plus or minus a few years) and it hits them hard. Generally speaking, if a teen starts showing symptoms of HD, they won’t see 30 years of age. Misdiagnosis is more likely here too, because a child may show signs before the parent from which they inherited the disease. Symptoms are similar to adult-onset HD with less likelihood of chorea (dance movements) but more likelihood of epileptic seizures.

Here is a video that explains Juvenile HD:

Featured Town:

Wilkie’s population is about 1300 people. It is named after Daniel Robert Wilkie who was president of the Imperial Bank of Canada from 1906-1914. From what I can tell, all of the streets in Wilkie are named after their founder or after the Imperial Bank. The Imperial Bank was the forerunner of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. I started my first bank account with the CIBC because it was the “Bank of the (Toronto) Blue Jays” and because of this commercial:

I should be in Wilkie July 11.

Training Update:

I have effectively shut myself down until Monday. I did go out for a walk with my wife and some friends yesterday that lasted for about 9 kilometres. I took this picture:

Interesting note: I lived in British Columbia for six years. My son was born there. B.C. was great. I even wrote about it here. My born and raised B.C. friends would say they could never be without their mountains. I always felt like the mountains were in the way!

I have worked out a tentative schedule for my walk across the province of Saskatchewan in support of Huntington Disease research and awareness. I totally expect the schedule to be ruined by noon of the first day but if all goes as planned (which it never does) I should be on the road from July 10-27. Here is the breakdown:

Three weeks, that is all I have left before setting out on my 700-kilometre hike across Saskatchewan in order to raise funds and awareness for the Huntington Society of Canada and Huntington Disease research.

It is has been some time since my last post. Life has a way taking you on rabbit trails before allowing you back on the path again. My last post was before the May long weekend. That weekend I took my son to play in his club volleyball national tournament in Calgary, Alberta. I went to sleep that Friday night and woke up with a sprained ankle in the morning. Apparently, although no believes me, spraining your ankle while sleeping is actually a “thing; ” Yet something else to look forward to in your forties.

I was also involved in two graduations, one at my own school in Vanguard on the 26th of May and then my daughter graduated from Athol Murray College of Notre Dame on June 17th. I am proud of Vanguard Community School and our graduating class and I am proud of my “little girl” Jessalyn.

I did have to rest for about 10 days while my ankle healed, but eventually, I did get back out on the road and have since put in a few hikes. June has been just too crazy though and I have not been able to put on as many kilometres as I would have liked. I will have to train as I walk somewhat, starting on July 10.

My school had a surprise for me on June 14. Some of the senior boys asked if I could go out to the woodshop with them while they built a box for another class. I thought it was a strange request but went anyways. While out in the shop I was called on the intercom to come to the gym. I thought a student had gotten hurt. When I got to the gym, the entire school was waiting for me. Without me knowing, the students and staff had planned their own little “walk” and were sitting in the gym with backpacks on waiting for me to join them. In total, they also raised nearly 2000 dollars for my campaign. This, plus donations that I have already received, has put me over halfway to my goal and I’m still three weeks to the starting line. Cool!

What is Huntington Disease (5)?

You will often hear the analogy that Huntington Disease is like having ALS, Parkinson’s Disease, and Alzheimer’s at the same time. This is mostly correct but doesn’t help much unless you know what those diseases are, and what attributes of those diseases can be found in a person that suffers from Huntington Disease. Here is the breakdown:

The full name for ALS is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. When you see that word trophic, it comes from the Greek trophikos for food or nourishment. Sclerosis means hardening or stiffening (dying). In the case of ALS, neurons in the brain responsible for voluntary muscle movement die. With nothing controlling them anymore, the muscles stiffen and eventually waste away. This is the common element with HD. Although not caused by the same neuron malfunction, in late stage HD, you will see muscle wasting to the point where HD patients in the latter stage of their life look extremely thin, fragile, and malnourished.

Parkinson’s Disease happens when brain cells stop producing dopamine. Dopamine is necessary to carry signals between nerves in the brain. Without it, people start to exhibit the hallmark signs of Parkinson’s: tremors, rigidity of muscles and impaired balance. Again but for different reasons, someone with HD will begin to display these same characteristics. This is the chorea or “dance” movements associated with HD.

Alzheimer’s or more specifically dementia caused by Alzheimer’s is also very HD like. This is where an individual with HD suffers from a host of cognitive and emotional issues; everything from memory loss to forgetfulness to irritability.

So, yes, in a sense Huntington Disease can be described as having ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s all at once but I would even go further than that. It is more like a person starts with Alzheimer’s (or dementia or even schizophrenia), then develops Parkinson’s, and then finishes off with ALS. You could even use another analogy and say that HD is like someone having a very prolonged and slow developing case of the dreaded Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (people with this disease often die within six months, whereas an individual with HD can have symptoms for 20 years or more).

All of these diseases are just plain and simple nasty!

Featured Town:

Evesham, SK

The next place I walk through after Macklin is a hamlet called Evesham. I looked it up and it is a hamlet of 35 people. It used to be a village up until the year 2000. That is about all I could find on Evesham. Here is a picture of a church in Evesham:

I will look to see if it still there when passing through.

This Day in Training:

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It was a great day for hiking. The temperature was a perfect 21 degrees and there were no bugs. My ankle held up well as I went about 8 kilometres. On this one stretch of highway, this one hawk keeps diving at me. At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but she definitely does not want me around!

Most Listened to Song on My Playlist:

Cry Out to Jesus – Third Day

Upon hearing Third Day’s music, they became my third favourite band (Triumph and The Tragically Hip will always be my favourites). Third Day’s music always makes me feel better. Their lyrics mean so much, and their sound is like a Christian version of Lynyrd Skynyrd. I can’t imagine a scenario where you feel worse after listening to this song.

I lived in British Columbia for six years. The province is flat out awesome! It is, however, a little different than the rest of Canada. Growing up in Saskatchewan, we used to have one or maybe two television channels on a good day. Everything seemed to happen outside of Saskatchewan in places like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Furthermore, our roads and railways always seemed to me to be taking everything outside of Saskatchewan to far off destinations. As a result, I, like many other residents of Saskatchewan, saw myself as Canadian first, and a Saskatchewanian second. I learned very quickly that this was not the case in British Columbia. People from British Columbia are British Columbian first.

Even just a quick glance at the province shows that British Columbia is a bit different than its provincial brothers to the east. For one, it is separated from the rest of Canada by the mountains. It has more geographic features and climate variation than perhaps the rest of Canada combined. Its economy and trade patterns are different. British Columbia also has differences when it comes to history.

First Nations people inhabited British Columbia first. That is no different. There is, however, this Spanish element to British Columbia that the rest of Canada does not have. Spanish explorers explored the coast of British Columbia well before Alexander Mackenzie got scared off by the Heiltsuk Nation and painted his name on a rock in 1793. Even the fur trade was based on sea otter pelts and not beaver like the rest of Canada.

British Columbia is very much like the rest of Canada, in that it came from what was left over from the United States. At first part of British North America left after the American Revolution, British Columbia and the rest of the great North-West became of interest to American president James Polk in 1844. Basically, the United States became really good at expanding. The 1800s was a great time to be an American and there was this view that it was just simply a natural progression that all of North America would eventually be the United States. This was known as Manifest Destiny and it is an idea that a few historians and economists would suggest has never really died. In 1844, however, it wasn’t just an idea, it was a belief that many Americans, including Polk, felt should be acted upon. He was even willing to go to war over it. His battle cry was “54’40 or fight”. This meant that James Polk wanted the United States to extend to the 54th parallel, not the present day 49th parallel. If this were to happen in present day Canada, the border would be north of places like Edmonton, Prince George and Saskatoon and about where Smithers, Slave Lake and La Ronge are located. Essentially 98% of Canada’s population would be American.

Needless to say, this never happened. Great Britain worked out a deal with the United States that established the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada. A few years later in 1858, a gold rush in the Fraser Valley brought many people to British Columbia (it wasn’t known as British Columbia yet) and it would later join Canada as a full province in 1871.

Implementing the Saskatchewan Reads program in a school or classroom often starts with establishing a physical reading space. This reading space is usually a comfortable and safe place within the classroom or school where students can just kick back and enjoy a good book.

At Vanguard Community School we wanted to add to the interior reading spaces by giving our elementary students somewhere outside where kids could comfortably read away from the elements. With visions of the bookmobile from my youth in mind, my PAA (Practical and Applied Arts) 10 class set out to convert an old tent trailer into a mobile reading room.

We started out by stripping the old trailer down to the frame. Next, we used our newly acquired welding skills to add reinforcements to the floor. Basic framing followed as we built a stick frame building and mounted it to the steel frame. To keep our weight down, we framed our building using 2 x 3 studs on two-foot centres. Also, in order to keep a low profile, we constructed a flat roof. We doubled up on finishing and structural integrity by using 1 x 4 tongue and groove spruce on the interior. Laminate flooring completed the interior. We then wired our shack so that we could run one L.E.D. light on a switch and an electrical outlet. For our power source, we simply wired in a heavy-duty extension cord so that we could plug our trailer into an external outlet. R-12 insulation was added to the walls and ceiling. The roof was completed with pre-cut corrugated steel. Vinyl siding finished the exterior.

At this point, all we needed was to add a bookshelf and some books and our mobile reading room was complete. The wheel wells served as built-in benches. Most people who see it think it would make a great ice-fishing shack. You can decide:

We have seen that while the eastern part of North America was involved in wars and rebellions from a period of 1756 to 1837 (Seven Years War, American Revolution, War of 1812, 1837 Rebellions), the northwestern part of North America was still very much in the thick of the fur trade.

Two fur trading companies, the Hudson`s Bay Company and the North-West Company were battling it out to see who could make the most money buying and selling furs in North America. It wasn`t much of a battle. The Hudson`s Bay Company had a massive geographical advantage in that it could take ocean-going ships half-way across the continent, whereas the North-West Company had to rely on an elaborate system of lakes and rivers that old French fur traders had established during the days of New France. The North-West company remained competitive as long there was new territory to find and exploit. This ended in July of 1793 when Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific Ocean by land. This meant that there was simply no more fur trading areas to reach. The Hudson`s Bay Company`s competitive advantage eventually started to wear on its failing competitor.

To further pressure the North-West Company, the HBC began opening up areas for agricultural settlement. Agriculture and settlement meant the end of the fur trade and when the HBC started the Selkirk settlement in southern Manitoba, the demise of the fur trade soon followed.

The problem with the Selkirk settlement was that is was strategically located where the Metis had set up shop trading and supplying Pemmican to the North-West company voyageurs. The Metis owed their livelihood (not to mention their origin)to the fur trade. The Selkirk settlement was a clear and direct threat to their way of life. When the Metis mentioned to the HBC that they maybe could have moved their settlement somewhere that wouldn`t bring about the ruin of the Metis way of life, arguments started. These arguments led to armed battles, which for a five-year period between 1811 and 1816 became known as the Pemmican War. The last and most violent of these battles was at Seven Oaks in 1816. Here is a summary:

By the way, pemmican seems like really cool stuff.It is a mixture of powdered dried meat, berries, and sugar or honey. Apparently, it can last for years and is highly nutritious and calorie dense. It could sustain voyageurs for months at a time. Here is a recipe that I found and that we will try in class.

Pemmican

Recipe # 1

Ingredients:

4 cups lean meat (deer, beef, caribou or moose)

3 cups dried fruit

2 cups rendered fat

Unsalted nuts and about 1 shot of honey

Instructions:

Meat should be as lean as possible and double ground from your butcher if you do not have you own meat grinder. Spread it out very thin on a cookie sheet and dry at 180 degrees F for at least 8 hours or until sinewy and crispy. Pound the meat into nearly a powder consistency using a blender or other tool. Grind the dried fruit, but leave a little bit lumpy for fun texture. Heat rendered fat on the stove at medium until liquid. Add liquid fat to dried meat and dried fruit, and mix in nuts and honey. Mix everything by hand. Let cool and store. Can keep and be consumed for several years.

So we know that Great Britain messed up. They taxed the United States into rebellion in 1776 and blamed it on too much freedom. Determined not to mess up again, Great Britain forced an oligarchy on what remained of its British North American colonies (Canada). To no one’s surprise, this led yet again to rebellion in 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada. Still unsure of why their colonies had this nasty habit of rebelling, Great Britain appointed Lord “Radical Jack” Durham to both govern its North American colonies and also find out the causes of the rebellions.

Durham told of his findings in the now famous (guess what?) Durham Report. Basically, he reported what the United States knew decades earlier: People generally like a say in how they are governed (i.e. responsible government). The thing is, Great Britain rejectedthe Durham report! Instead, they opted for a kind of hybrid between Durham’s recommendations and what they had already established for government in the colonies. This led to among other things, the Act of Union in 1841, separation of English and French speaking Canadians, separate schools and overall a unique (or weird) political system that would be a forerunner of Canadian Politics. Here is how it went down:

It has often been suggested that one of the fundamental differences between the United States and Canada is that the United States was born out of a revolution while Canada was created by an Act of the British Parliament. While this is true, it is an understatement.

In fact, some of the same sentiment that led to the American Revolution also led to rebellions in Canada in 1837 and this, in turn, led us down the road towards nationhood.

You see, one of the causes (and I stress one) of the American Revolution was “taxation without representation.” Great Britain was taxing its 13 colonies, but those colonies did not have any political power or really any say in British government at all.

After the American Revolution, Great Britain’s response to its colonies’ desire for representative democracy was to further restrict democracy in its remaining North American colonies! Basically, they set up an oligarchy where a few appointed officials made all of the key decisions in Upper and Lower Canada while elected assemblies had very little political power.

Two separate failed rebellions (really, they were more like riots) ensued and the road to Confederation began.